Sanjay Bangar’s hopes are sky-high for Indian top order

Sanjay Bangar feels the current Indian team could form a batting line up like the early 2000s

The Indian Cricket team has been doing a lot of damage both overseas and at home in recent games. The Indian contingent has found another reliable hitman in KL Rahul to accompany the other Test batsmen such as Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and company. Answering if he feels this top-order line-up will rule the Indian squad for a significant amount of time, Bangar said, “I do believe so

"If this group of players continue to perform well -- then they could form a line-up which would be similar to the one India had in the early 2000s which had Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman. These players have immense potential and they are well on their way to achieving great things for Indian cricket", he added.

According to the Indian batting coach KL Rahul has been nothing less of a catalyst for the likes of regulars such as Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. "He (Rahul) has created a lot of competition among the boys. Rahul has made it count each time he has gone in to bat. Be it the Test centuries he scored in Sydney, Colombo, Jamaica or the hundreds in ODIs and T20s -- Rahul has been fantastic”, said Bangar to the Times of India. 

Bangar also feels that India is on a dream run to re-occupy the top spot in the Test rankings, "The kind of progress this team has made in the last two years (from hovering around World No 7 to becoming World No 1 twice in the last 6 months) — indicates the work being put in”. Pakistan had taken over the top spot in the Test rankings thanks to their 2-2 draw against England recently. 

The coach also shed light on the brand of cricket the team wants to play, ”Our goal has been to play an aggressive brand of cricket. The third Test against West Indies last month comes to my mind as we had very little time to force a result as a day-and-half was washed out. But the kind of cricket we played to get a result out of that game shows our hunger to be a top side”.

Ashwin’s batting an asset for the team

Bangar was all praise for Ravichandran Ashwin as well. "An allrounder is an asset in any format of the game, and Ashwin has shown why he is one of the best. Ashwin's ability to score those runs lower down the order plus his skills with the ball lend a lot of flexibility to the side," said the Indian coach.

India will play their next Test series against New Zealand on 22 September in Kanpur.